The American Mountain Men Keep Backcountry Culture Alive and Well

Mountain man culture may seem like something you can only read about in books, but one group is keeping the tradition alive.

Mountain men have recently gained a lot of publicity, probably due to several TV shows featuring modern mountain men and the new Hollywood movie, The Revenant. Those who take a particularly deep interest in the subject might wonder what was it really like to be a mountain man, and what the culture was truly like.

One group, the American Mountain Men, aims to safeguard specifically one thing: mountain man culture. This group of hardcore historians still takes to the mountains and lives the life of mountain men as they would have experienced it.

Watch this video for a taste of what the American Mountain Men group is all about.

Groups like the American Mountain Men are essential to keeping the true spirit of our past alive. They have dedicated themselves to preserving what would otherwise become a dead relic of the past. The knowledge and skills they posses have been passed down since the early days by a small faction of people who yearned for a deeper understanding of the lives of mountain men. It only takes one break in the chain to lose their knowledge forever.

Mountain man culture is as relevant today as it was 200 years ago. The recent rise in the popularity of bushcraft for example, builds off mountain man skills. Here is the true importance of the preservation: someday children will want to know “how did they do this…?” Groups like the American Mountain Men make sure those children have an answer.

It’s comforting to know that somewhere in these United States, men still gather round crackling campfires clad in buckskins and give life to mountain man culture from the past.